Delicious Relationship
by Annie Thea
Summary: They had this weird and intense chemistry that seemed to react violently, only to leave both of them wounded. Her first impression with him was perfect, until they met again. With a little stir of fate, would they be able to create a delicious relationship? ClairexGray, and other compliment pairings.
1. Chapter 1 - A new begining

I played the game almost 10 years ago, and still playing. Yet most of my current friends don't know about HM since the game is so old (I moved from my country to the US, hence the term"current friends"),so I didn't have a beta reader to proofread the fic. I tried my best to catch myself, but if you see lots of grammar mistake, please review and kindly point them out, I will go back and fix them.

Please bear with the slow beginning, I wanted to set up the right mood for the story, and it will pick up later as you learn more about Claire& other characters. I had every thing plotted out pretty much, and will be update frequently.

This is my first fan fiction ever, also my first story written in English. I was bored, so I created the story as a way to cope with my lack of social life. Please read and review, it would really boost up my confidence & motivate me to continue on :)

***Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harvest Moon, much to my dismay :(

* * *

 **A new beginning.**

Everything has its price- truer words have never spoken to Claire. In front of her, was a vast field of wasted land, filled with debris, logs, boulders and wild grass, nowhere resembling the term "amazing farmland" that she read on the advertisement. Which probably explained the over-enthusiastic realtor on the phone as they pompously sold her the land with such a price. The term dirt cheap seemed ironically appropriate now, all dirt, and cheap, just like her new property. Even the grass was the color of soiled green.

Well, not that she would be surprised, considered the price she paid for her "farm".

But Claire didn't come here for playing fantasy life. She was eager to break away from the city and all the hustles happened in her life. And if this was a challenge she had to face to leave the old world behind, so be it.

"So you're a new farmer," a chiming voice popped up behind Claire. She swiveled and averted her eyes down below, towards the source, and found a short man in a funny red suits, wearing a matching red hat to cover up his receding hairline. He spoke like a little child, his eyes sparkled with the goodwill of town people you rarely found in the cities.

"I'm Thomas, the major of the town. I've been informed that there are a new owner of the farm. Didn't expect you to be a girl though".

"Yes, I am Claire. Nice you meet you."

"Are you sure you want to take the place? It is not much of a farm anymore, and you seems too ... Fragile ... To take care of the place all by yourself," He looked at the pale looking girl in front of him. Claire wasn't exactly on the healthy side, or at least not enough for heavy farm work by herself.

"Were you cheated into buying the place? I can talk to the realtor for you…"

"It's okay. I kind of expecting the land to be like this actually," Claire glanced distractedly at the debris-filled field. "Consider the price I paid for it, this is no wonder."

"Well well, aren't you something? Then I guess it is up to you then. I'm going visit other people in town to inform them of your arrival. If you needs any help, don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

"Sure, Mayor Thomas. Thank you."

"Thomas is fine." He corrected Claire warmly.

Then the tiny man went off his merry way, leaving Claire behind with her new property.

"Well, there is no need to waste any more time to contemplate how horrible this place is. Might as well get to work," Claire exclaimed to herself.

She pushed her luggage into the beaten standing structure that she assumed was her new residence. In it prime times, the "house" must had been a cute little cabin amidst a field of greens, but now it looked like a weathered hut.

The cabin's interior was divided into two area – one where bath room was, and the other area were combine into one grand space, acting as the Kitchen, Living room and bedroom combined. From the look of the cabin's setting, Claire guessed their previous owner must have a pretty simple and casual life in solitary.

The kitchen was placed at the left corner, pretty rusty and rather simple, but usable and worked for everyday purpose. _Compare to the_ _extensive kitchen back home, this is rather too simple_. But then, Claire was not here to practice the art of culinary.

The living room area, which hold an old TV, a worn out bookshelf packed with assorted books, a beaten up couch and a tiny table - guessed that was where the old guy had his meal as well. And then, to Claire's surprise, at the far upper right corner of the house was spacious a bed, every soft as well - its previous owner must had like his comfortable sleep. He also put a drawer right next to it and make a small nice bed table.

The house was overall small and dusty, but neat and acceptable for now. After all, there was no need for a big house when she was the only one in it. She already had a big and empty house in the city anyways. If she needed a luxury life, she wouldn't be moving here. Beside, small house means less cleaning, and soon she would have her hand busy with farming.

Farming. There's the problem. The field was a total waste, and to top it off, Claire had no previous experience in farming at all. Well, she did took care of a few trees and plants in her high school and college classes, but handling the farm by herself and making a decent living on it were another entire story.

"Knock knock knock."

The sound woke Clair up from her trance. She didn't close the door, but the person must had knocked just to be polite.

"Hey, " The tall dark man stood outside the house said as she turned around to greet him. He was an ideal image of working man in Claire's book – his towel hang carelessly over the shoulder to pat off the sweat, white tank top to maximize heat radiation that coincidentally emphasis his muscular body, and tan skin that told his time under the sun, working honest job.

"I'm Zachary, or Zack for short," He introduced himself. "I've heard about you from Thomas. I came by to offer some help about things around here," he said casually.

"Hi Zack, I'm Claire. Thank you for the trouble of coming here. It's very nice of you" Claire smiled her sweetest smile, truly thankful for the kindness of the stranger in front of her.

"No worries. We Mineral folks take care of each other. I'm a fisher and also in charge of shipping things in and out of the town. I used to ship production for the old farmer as well," He said, an old reminiscences faintly lingered in his voice. "Let me show you a few basic things around."

Thus, Zack toured Claire around in her farm, and how to get the products packed in the shipping bin so Zack could take it to the city every other day.

"Here is the old set of equipment from the old farmer. I took possession of it after he passed away, as a keepsake for the old man. It's pretty rusty by now, but maybe they can still be of some help for you," He said as he pulled out the tools off his duffle bag.

"Definitely, I was worried about where to buy tools. Those are a big help!" Claire exclaimed happily as she accepted the tools from Zack. These tools were indeed rusty, but they should work with a bit sharpening.

"We have a blacksmith here, you can take the tools to him to get it in shape again. The old guy takes care of all of our equipment in town. He is pretty skillful I might add. People come from different parts of the country to visit him."

"I will absolutely. Thanks"

"There is a poultry farm right around your farm. Chicken is great you know, an eggs a day for a hen. Sure they aren't the best money maker out there, but they could give you some decent meal for the beginning when your farm still need a little work… Besides, the lady there is really nice," He blushed for a second as he realized his last sentences.

"Anyway here is the map. Take a look around and do visit people okay? Mineral town is a small town, but we pretty much have everything we need for daily life. Anything special, you will need to order it via the phone at the inn and I'll ship it to you."

"Thank Zack, you're such a big help"

"Hey don't worry about it. It is rare for us to have new people, especially such cute lady like you," _Though she does need a bit of feeding, look at that skinny arm_ , he thought. "I'm going, but I will be back in a few day with some other guys to help you out if possible. Don't hesitate if you need anything okay"

They nodded as Zack took off so Claire could take a rest. It had been a long day for Claire with all the moving and traveling, so she decided to just clean up the bed and unpacked her essential belonging. Work could begin tomorrow, after all, she would have plenty of time to herself now.

Claire shed a tear to herself before settling in for the night. Amidst the absolute darkness of the night, lying on an unfamiliar bed of the unfamiliar place, Claire never feel so more alone.

.

.

.

The next day, Claire fixed her a quick breakfast and did a full inspection of her property to determine its conditions.

The empty kitchen would require some basic stocking if she ever decided to cook. The farm had a big barn for cow and sheep that needed a fixing desperately before could be put in use. The chicken coop needed to be touched up as well, but for the moment they could go without. The house was good for now, but a little patching up wouldn't go amiss. Claire made a mental note to asked Zack for a handy man in town next time she saw him.

The tools on the other hand seemed like an urgent matter, as they needed to be sharpen if she wanted to do some serious work on her farm. So Claire decided to head out to town and have them repair at the Blacksmith's today.

The town was much prettier than Claire expected. The earth red cobblestone road made the path much pleasant to walk on. On both side of the road, those old fashioned cottage with also red roof and white brick that complimented the rosy color. She knew she must had stray from her path to the Blacksmith, based on the map Zack had generously gave her, but she didn't mind being a little lost just to enjoyed the scenery. So she kept wandering on, taking in her surrounding and the warm atmosphere the town gave off.

After feeling satisfied with her spontaneous stroll, she pulled out the map to relocated herself, again while still walking.

"Seems like I missed the turn to the poultry farm…" Claire mumbling to herself.

Immediately a strong energy pushed towards her body, collided, and Claire felt herself stumbling down. She closed her eyes to embrace for the impact with the tiles.

But there was nothing. No pain, no crash. Instead, she felt an arm catching her mid-fall.

Surprised, she opened her eyes again to see who just helped her break the fall. Meeting her glaze was a pair of cobalt blue eyes, looking at her tentatively. The depth of the worried orbs was like a clear sky in the winter day, its endless depth seemed to hold hostage of its audience. Her chest fluttered as she feel her glaze sucked into it, unable to break out.

"You should watched were you are going," the owner of the winter sky said in a husky tone, as he steadied Claire up to make sure she was standing properly on her feet again. "Are you okay?"

"Ah… Yes I'm okay." Claire blushed at she realized she must have staring at him dumbfound. "Sorry for tumbling into you, I was a little lost."

Claire smirked as a stupid thought ran through her head, those silly clichés she often read about, where a gal bumped into a guy and the moment their eyes met, they instantly knew it was destiny. Well sure, that guy did have a beautiful eyes, but Claire wasn't such a naïve girl. Yet entertaining the thought seemed to lighten her mood considerably- a first time since a long time.

"No problem." The guy said, bringing Claire back to earth. "I haven't seen you around, who are you?"

"I'm Claire, the new owner the farm over the end of this road." She tiled her head to the farm's direction.

"Oh... So you're the new farmer. I didn't expect you to be a girl…" He said, quickly adjusting himself "Anyway it's really none of my business. Welcome to the boonies. Hope you will get used to it soon."

"Thank you…"

" I've got to go, I'm late. See you around," The guy dashed away in a hurry, holler back as he ran.

And his figure swiftly faded away namelessly.

 _He said see you around, so he must be a town's village._ Claire guessed she will met him again soon, provided that she still survive her farm.

.

.

.

The daydreaming thought exploded right in her face just as loud as the cracking metallic sound she heard when she opened the door to enter the blacksmith. As if to make sure Claire get the message.

A loud voice was yelling in response to the big boom.

"AGAIN GRAY! How many damn time I need to tell you to be careful before you decide to listen?"

"It's just a small crack! I will be able to fix it right away," A voice curtly replied, strangely familiar to Claire.

"A small crack?" The words seemed to tick the old man off. "Yes you will be able to fix that small crack, but the crack head of yours is incurable! " He snarled at Gray.

Before Claire debating whether she should just step out to break the fight of the two strangers, the scolded guy noticed Claire's presence. Annoyed by the concerned eyes staring at him, he bellowed bluntly:

"What are you looking at Blondie? Stop nosing into people's business."

Claire didn't expect to be lashed by his temper. And she didn't take it too well when people just conveniently venting on her.

"Don't flatter yourself crack head. It is not my fault that you plastered your problem all over the place for people to see..."

She snapped back reflexively, and immediate regret it. _Not a good way make a first impression Claire. You're new here._ Then her regret even grew heavier as she realize gray were the guy from earlier.

"Well then butt out of here noisy brat." He said coldly.

 _Ok, so he was that guy, but he had no right talking like that._ "And I will listen to you because...?" Claire said, about to turn on assaulting mode.

"Becayse I will-"

"Gray! She is a customer." Saibara yelled and scolded the boy, prevent the angry young guy to finish his sentence, and broke up their tension. "Sorry for his poor behavior miss. How may I help you today?"

"Huh? Me? Oh yes" Claire glanced warily towards the boy, but decided the better and step up to the counter to give the man her tools. "I'm here to have these repaired.""

"Ah, I recognize these tools, they belongs to the old farmer. Are you the new owner of the farm?"  
" Yes I am. My name is Claire, nice to meet you."

"Nice to have you in town Claire. I'm Saibara the Blacksmith. Over there is my apprentice and grandson Gray."

Claire politely nodded to the mention of his name, but Gray remained silent in his corner, feigning ignorance to his introduction. He was in no mood to socialize with the bratty girl. Hell, he even regretted helping her from the fall earlier. Maybe a little impact of the floor could help with her bratty attitude.

"It will cost you 500G for the repair. Come back in 3 days to get it, or I can have that rude child over there delivery it to you if you wish."

"Ah it's okay. I'll be back by then. Thank you".

Claire concluded her business and walked away from the shop, yet her thought still remained with the hunching posture of the apprentice blacksmith working on his station, indicate his owner was working clearly in aggravation.

So gray was the owner of the beautiful eyes that dominated her daydream earlier. But he seemed like an entirely different person in the shop. The guy she met this morning was gentle, his deep blue eyes cool and collected like winter's stillness. Gray's eyes in the forge however, was shallow, dark and full of anger, like a raging sea in the storm.

Claire shrugged and continued on her trip, grief for what should have been a wonderful encounter. So much for romantic fateful stumbling they talked about in cliché story.

.

* * *

What do you think about the first chapter? Again, please read and review, it would really boost up my confidence & motivate me to continue on :) !

Chapter 2 will be out next week. Thank you


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcome Wagon

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for the kind words and following my story :")

Here is the new chapter. Sorry for the lack of plot, I just wanted to make sure Claire will have fun in the new town. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: Do not own anything. Nope. None.

* * *

A fanatic voice screaming and broke Claire away from her train of thought. A huge fluffy shadow launched towards her, and she instinctively struck her arms out to catch it before it smashed into her. The collision forced her to felt backwards as she struggled trying to cradle the thing.

After a minutes of juggling, the monster finally gave up and settled down in her arm, revealed to be an oversize chicken. It beak gripping her arms fiercely, a last ditch attempt to break free.

"Ah please don't let it go!" The voice exclaimed, footsteps hurriedly ran towards Claire.

"You bad chicken!"

In front of Claire, an adorable girl with pink hair was standing, her innocent beauty for a second reminded Claire of some type of Goddess, stepped out of Greek Mythology. The only difference maybe that it was a chicken she was holding instead of the regular wheat and flowers from typical Geek Sculptures. Her curly bob of pink hair was tangled from the running, a tint of red rose on her impeccable cheek. Maybe she was a Goddess of chicken.

And the Goddess of Chicken pulled the chicken out of Claire's grip, and the bird subdued quickly in its owner's embrace, harmless as he ever was.

"Are you okay? Thank you for stopping my chicken from going wild. You just saved me from the wrath of my brother! Rick would be so mad if he knew I forgot to lock the cage again." The bubbly girl said everything in one go, smiled sweetly then offered a hand out to help Claire stand up, which Claire absent mindedly took,

"Oh, you are new here aren't you! I've never seen you before. My name is Popuri, nice to met you."

"I'm Claire, the new farmer." Claire said, still admiring the girl in front of her.

"Gosh Claire you're bleeding! Come to my house, Ill patch you up." And before Claire could reply, Popuri pulled the farmer with her.

* * *

Rick pushed the door loudly and announced his entrance with a slur.

"Popuri, do you know there is a new farmer in town! A girl no less! I hope she .…"

"…Oh" He trailed off as he saw a striking blonde girl in front of him next to Popuri, his face reddened to be caught in the middle of gossiping about her. Struck by an awkward situation, he stood dumbfounded at the door. Not only the new farmer didn't look like Gotz female version, she was actually… beautiful. Her Blonde hair carelessly flows to the middle of her back, a few decoration of white feather tangled within, makes her all the more attractive to Rick. Her skin was strangely pale, as if she needed to be treat with delicacy, but the fierce azure eyes sharply reflects a strong and independent spirit, that stare directly into one's soul and demanded control of its contact.

"Take a picture, last longer." Popuri said, teasing her brother's obviously oozing at Claire. "And maybe consider wiping your drools."

Which immediately woke Rick out of his trance. He closed his hanging mouth, and shifted his posture so he could looked normal again.

"Rick, meet Claire, the new farmer. Claire, meet my stupid brother rick" Popuri's voice said in a sing song tone, rubbing Rick's awkward face. His vein popped, but decided it best to just ignore his sister childish tease and keeping his face in front of the new girl.

"Hey Claire, nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too Rick" Claire smiled, happy to break off the staring contest.

"What happened to your arm?" Rick noticed Popuri was tending to Claire's scratch.

Upon hearing his words, Popuri face faded into a few shade of white, bracing herself to be scolded by Rick once he learned of the reason.

"Well, I was daydreaming and stumbled down by one of the stupid branch in the street. Popuri happened to be nearby so she offered to patch me up," Claire said nonchalantly.

Popuri looked at Claire with a surprise, and Claire winked at her new friends, which resulted with a big white smile on the pink hair's face. Popuri decided that she loved the new farmer already.

"There you go Claire." Popuri said, finished putting the bandage on Claire's arm, then turned to Rick:

"Rick, I still have to feed the chicken. But would you be kind and show Claire to the supermarket? She said she wanted a few things there, she seemed lost. I don't want Claire to stumble and ruined my perfect work."

 _This is hardly a perfect work_ , both of Claire and Rick thought, looking at Claire's arm, the bandage was pathetically hanging on Claire arm like a sorry grandma's winkle skin. The blonde also mentally scold at the comment, immediately regret saving Popuri from earlier- Claire wasn't lost, she was just wandering around by her own choice.

"S-Sure" Rick said, eyeing as his sister, wondering what was the new mischief her cute little mind just cook up. But of course, he wouldn't mind offer some courtesy towards this petite farmer, and regain some of his dignity back after being caught staring at her. Hence, he just obediently follow Claire as she walked out of the house, Popuri waving at them excitedly.

"So why did you decide to come here Claire?" Rick asked, attempted to strike up a conversation.

"Well... A change of air I guess." Claire replied, clearly uncomfortable to answer the question. Rick realized he might hit a sensitive nerves, so he nodded silently, not wanting to push the farmer.

"So what do you do Rick?" This time was Claire turn to break the awkward atmosphere.

"Oh. I take care of the Poultry farm, along with my sister, and my mother. We raised chicken, mostly for eggs. I just couldn't bear leaving a chicken away… " Rick said, his eyes sparked and he started droning on about his favorite thing in the world.

"…I must have bored you out." He said as he realized just basically dominated their conversation.

"No Rick, it was interesting. I never knew chicken eggs also come out from their anal, same place where they shit. Egg will never look the same to me," Claire grinned teasingly. "Thanks for ruining my life."

"You can't, eggs is just too good to give up, you will get over it" He replied simply, "In fact, I'm going to give you some of ours when we got back. Bet you can't find any better quality eggs in the city".

"Oh no that's too much"

"Don't be. We have plenty of them anyway." Rick grinned. "And don't bother refusing, or I will have Popuri be all over you"

Claire shuddered at the thought of the bubbly pink hair harassing her with constants cheerfulness.

"Well then I've to say yes. Thank you Rick"

"It's a deal." Rick grinned, secretly satisfying with himself.

"Well, here we are, at the supermarket" Rick pushed the door in.

"Hey Rick! I was…" A voice yelling happily at Rick, and stopped for a second as its owner saw the sign of Claire coming in with him, then continue on happily. - "Hey Stranger!"

Stood at the counter was a gorgeous brunette that seemed to be out of place with her surroundings. She was beautiful, the kind of face you saw on TV and magazine, flawless beauty, olive eyes. Even without make up, she was still radiated with charms. That girl seems like she belonged in a catwalk in the city, not working here at the clerk of an isolate town.

Rick gently stepped aside to introduce Claire into focus. "Hey Karen, this is our new farmer, Claire"

"Hey there… Karen," Claire said timidly, clearly still dazzled by the stunning girl. _The concentration of beautiful girls in this town is ridiculous. It's like I'm playing an otome game_. "…I'm Claire, nice to meet you."

"Hey Claire! I heard about you from Thomas." Karen said, as she stepped out of the supermarket and hugged Claire enthusiastically. "Sooo nice to see you!" her voice no hint of mischievous. A new girl, this should be fun!

 _Wow, too friendly_ , Claire thought as she awkwardly patted Karen back, a gesture to return the hug. _No way super model in city could be this nice, she must be real, I'm not dreaming then._

Rick smiled as he saw his friend get excited about the new girl. Claire seemed cool, and Karen would benefit from having a girl close to her age that she could talk too.

"You are so brave, working the farm the all by yourself!" She said as she let Claire off.

"Well, I haven't work on it yet…" Claire answered. But Karen seemed to ignore it.

"Hang on"

Karen walked over to the seed counter, pull out a big bag of seed, and cheerfully bring it to Claire.

"Take this, it should help you out! These grass can re-fetilize the soil for you."

"Oh no this is too much Karen. It's okay. I can buy it myself." Claire brushed the bag back to Karen and pull out the wallet. But before she could do so, Rick lifted the seed bag out of her grip, and hoisted it on his shoulder.

"Here, I'll drop it off at your farm on my way home, along with the eggs. I have to get back before Popuri decided to destroy the house."

"Great! It's all settled then!" Karen giggling, as Claire was still at shock at what was going on. Mental note to Claire – Apparently, _People in Mineral don't take no as an options._

"Fine" Claire said resignedly, "But I also need some cleaning supplies, and this time, I'm paying"

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

As her arms were full of cleaning supplies and whatnot, Claire silently thank Rick to offer helps depositing haft of her purchase to her farm, otherwise there would be no way she could bring them back by herself without a second trip, or third trip even.

Hungry from the walking and browsing, she decided that she would just stopped by the Inn for her lunch. The current state of her kitchen would not permit her to prepare food safely without a massive diarrhea. Hell, she might as well eat the food uncooked and it would still be safer.

As soon as Claire stepped into the inn, a voice welcomed her in.

"Hello there! Welcome in! Huh, I never see you before, are you the new farmer in town?" a Red hair girl, also in a jumpsuit hair greet cheerfully.

"Ah yes, I am" Claire said. _News sure travel fast in this town._ She thought to herself.

Then Claire sat her stuff on the nearest table to free her hand, and turned back to the girl.

"The name's Claire, Claire William, pleasure to be your acquaintance". _What the hell, Pleasure to be your acquaintance? You're a farmer, not a CEO's a business partner._

The barmaid giggled at the sentences. Her smile was that of a little angel, strong and full of vitality. Not to mention her face did look like one too, with her feisty red hair, petite nose and blue eyes vibrating with life.

"Yes nice to meet you Claire. I'm Ann, I lived here and also worked as a waitress. Over there is my Dad." As she finished, she turned over and shouted-

"Hey dad! The new farmer Claire is here to visit us".

Ann called for the guy who was busy cleaning the mugs at the bar with a white towels. Hearing his name, he turned over, gave them a huge grin, and walk out of the bar towards the girls.

"Hello there Claire. My name is Doug, the owner of this Inn. Nice to see you". He gave his hand out and Claire shook it. Both of the father and daughter had a very hospitality feeling, warm and fuzzy.

"Hi Doug"

"Must be hard work taking care of the farm all by yourself, especially seeing how beaten up it is"

"Mhmm yes. I haven't started though, but Roman wasn't built in a day, so I'll just try my best"

"Yes thats the spirit" Doug said, grinned at the feisty spirit of the new farmer.

"Hey dad, why don't we gave Claire a free lunch on the house as a welcome gift!" Ann suggested.

"Sure, I don't see why not". After all, seeing her so lively and determinate, Doug would like to do something to encourage the girl as well.

"That's very nice of you! But it's okay, I can pay for myself."

"Ohh don't worry Claire! Just sit and enjoy yourself! My dad is a fabulous cook, you wouldn't be disappointed! "

"Yes, and just make sure if the food is good, come back and patronize us Claire!" Doug added, then stepped to the back to prepare for the dish.

Again, Claire sat dumbfounded, unsure of what just happened, as Ann and Doug went on and prepare her meal. _What was the deal those Mineral folk, forcing free stuff on the new people._ But her lips tilt upwards at the thought. _So this is how a close kit community must feel like, everyone was just so friendly and eager to help each other._ Claire began to love it here already.

"I see you just brought a bunch of cleaning supplies. I suppose you're about to clean up the house?" Ann put the dishes on Claire table and, placed herself opposite to Claire's seat.

"Yes" Claire nodded, and gave herself a spoonful of curry freshly made by Doug.

"Wow you're right, this is very good. Mhmmmmm". Claire chew and savoring the food. Doug's food had a very homey feeling, filled with kindess and warm that made Claire happy eating them. His food was so different from the city.

Doug and Ann smile broadly seeing Claire attacking their food joyously. "See! Told you!" They both said.

"I guess I could help you with cleaning Claire! It will be quicker with more people aint' it! Hey papa, can I take an evening off to help Claire out?"

Ann said, without even bother to ask Claire to agree on her assistance. Getting used to it, Claire didn't even bother to protest anymore. She just made a mental note that as soon as her farm start producing stuff, she would just bombard them with veggies and fruit then. Althought that scenario seems to be farfetched with the state of her farm right now.

"Hmm, I suppose I could let it slide today for the sake of our lovely farmer, just don't make it into a habit of skipping work okay."

"Sure dad. Love you." Ann jumped and hugged her dad in an animated fashion. He patted her in the back, before stepping inside to work on his kitchen, leaving the two girl talking with themselves. This daughter of his, so lively and full of actions… He wondered when she would use that energy to find her a boy.

Ignorant of her Father's unspoken wish, Ann went on and busied herself with planning.

"Ellie is busy with the Clinic, Karen would be a disaster to invite for house work. Mary, I'm not sure.. Hmm I'mgoing to ask Popuri to help us out as well! She is pretty good with house work. "

"Popuri? The girl at the chicken farm near the blacksmith?" Claire said, winced as the imaginary squeak of Popuri popping into her head.

"Yes, have you met her?"

"I helped her caught her chicken earlier that day when I walked out of the Blacksmith"

"Oh, so you visited the Blacksmith as well? Have you seen Gray then?"

"They moody guy in there? Yeah I've seen him." She said tiredly as the talk remind her of a particular event that she would rather not happen.

"I walked in when he was having a fight with his grandfather, and I somehow got involved…"

"Haha. Don't tell me you rebuked him."

"Kinda…"

"Some gut you are, going against him. Gray has a terrible temper. But Saibara, that old man is a tough nut though."

"Gray was nice when I stumbled upon him in the street…" Claire said gently as her vision faded into the memory of the beautiful blue eyes of a stranger this morning.

"Hmm… aren't someone having interest in someone," Ann teased.

Claire then heard a clearing throat behind her, and as she turned around she saw Gray walked in and towards the stair.

"Oh hey Gray, you're home early today"

"H-Hey Gray" Claire said, feeling awkward as she was caught in the middle of talking about the guy.

But Gray didn't answer, eyeing the pair before he shrugged and walked straight upstairs.

"What's with him?" Claire asked, looking curiously at the silhouette of the blacksmith slowly retreated.

"Oh never mind him Claire, he's probably still sulking over his fight with his grandpa, just let him be." Ann said dismissively, glancing at the clock. "We have a more urgent business to tend to."

Then took Claire's finished plate with one hand, while another pulled Claire up.

"You go and dropped those off the house," she pointed at Claire's cleaning supplies, "I'll catch you there, gotta make a around", Ann pushed Claire towards the door.

"Ohh, this is sooo excited!" The tomboy said in an obsessed manner, which gave Claire a chill- she had a feeling she was getting to something traumatizing.

* * *

Much to Claire's surprise, there was a small crowd in front of her house when she got back. There were almost everyone Claire saw this morning. Popuri, Rick, Karen, a new gentle girl in a nurse dress that she had yet to meet. Basically everyone showed up, with Ann leading up front to welcome her.

"You are taking too long to get home! I thought you ditched us." Ann complained loudly.

"Hey Ann! Hey… everyone"

"Everyone caught winds about you're cleaning so they decided to stop by and giving you a hand" Ann said cheerfully and innocently, like it's the most natural thing in the world.

Knowing her new friend, Claire would imagine Ann came knocking and dragging everyone in. Caught wind, more like, caught in a bloody murder threats.

"Not true, you were basically screaming at me to come," Popuri pout, but quickly added. "Not that I don't want to help you Claire, but Ann is scary when she is cleaning. Ouch! Ann!" She squeaked as Ann pinched her cheek.

While they were bickering back at forth, the gentle girl took the moment to approach Claire.

"Hello Claire. I'm Elli, nice to meet you."

"Hey Ellie!" Claire smile reciprocatedly at the girl. "Thanks for coming and helping out, it's so nice of you"

"No worries" Ellie said brightly." I'm always love to help! And I heard so much about you, I'm so glad to finally see you"

 _Again, news sure travel fast in this town._ Claire thought. _And what is with these insanely cute bachelorettes in this town? A variety from cute to beautiful with different personality. Is this a game or something?_

"I'm the nurse of this town, if you need anything, please come to the clinic okay?". No wonder Elli was so gently and gave out a soothing feeling. She had an air of calmness around her that ease everyone inside her radius. Claire felt she can definitely get along with this sweet lady.

"You have a whole welcome wagon to help you Claire" Karen exclaimed excitedly.

"Ah… Indeed I do."

Claire glanced at all the new face around her, a warmth slowly spread over her body. These are her new friends, the friends that she barely meet, but somehow already feel closed and protective over them.

 _Friends. What a wonderful word._

* * *

Every time I feel sad and depressed, I sneak into the Harvest Moon game to take a little break to the world. Harvest Moon Mineral Town was my little corner of joy, where I can slip from reality to this little town to meet these awesome character, where life was simpler and colorful. Everyone at Mineral Town seemed nice and kind to me, so I am glad that Claire was able to feel welcomed here, because that was how I felt when I played the game.


End file.
